


you've been dying for the past ten years

by rozey_woes



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Tales of the SMP - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Cat - Ender Chest, Cat grim reaper pog, Changing History, Character Death, Cycle, Death, Ender chest is kind of like Death, Gen, Head Injury, History repeating, Injury, John John - Freeform, Mason - Freeform, Pets, Song: Kagerou Daze, Tales Of The SMP, The Wild West, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Time Travelling Karl Jacobs, Time Travelling Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:03:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29745414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rozey_woes/pseuds/rozey_woes
Summary: // Contains spoilers for Tales of the SMP: The Wild West //During Karl's time-travelling journey, he meets and befriends a young boy by the name of John. He helps the city to rise up and fight against the bandits - they all agree on a duel to settle it.Karl never wanted John to die, though. So maybe that's why he keeps going back in time to that specific moment, trying to change history and make sure John lives. His efforts seem fruitless until Karl realizes how he can finish this cycle for the last time.
Relationships: Karl Jacobs & Ranboo, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 76





	you've been dying for the past ten years

**Author's Note:**

> Features a LOT of repetitive character death. Ranboo/John John dies multiple times in this short fic so hold onto your hats--

It was August 15th, around noon. The males stood gathered close in front of a wooden deck where they agreed to have a duel to win their city back. Karl thought it would go over smoothly, he was confident they would win the town back over. Though if he admitted it, he was worried for his young friend, John, who he had become fairly attached to. He didn't know why he liked the boy so much, maybe it was because he reminded him so much of the young members of the SMP back in their current timeline. They were kids, and John was no different - though the boy had refused to admit his age, it was obvious the male was underage and clearly wasn't old enough to be running a bar. Or maybe he was old enough, Karl wasn't familiar with the laws of this city in this time period. 

Speaking of the boy, John stood in front of him, a crossbow in his hands as he nervously fiddled with it. Karl placed his hands on the boy's shoulders, giving him an encouraging smile. "You got this! Get up there and show him who's boss." he chirped, grinning. 

John smiled back, beaming as he was filled with confidence. "Y-Yes! I will! I will make you proud!" he exclaimed, turning and stepping up onto the wooden platform. Karl watched as Mason stepped up as well, and the two men took their places in the center back-to-back. 

Karl counted ten paces.

_1_

_2_

_3_

_4_

_5_

_6_

_7_

_8_

_9_

_10_

Karl watched the following events in horror as both males whipped around, aiming their weapons at the other. John shot first, his shot going extremely off course much to Karl's dismay. He then was forced to watch in shock as Mason's arrow hit John straight on in the chest, followed by the boy dropping his weapon and crumpling to the ground. 

"JOHN!" Karl found himself yelling in dismay, running up to the platform. Mason stepped back, cackling at his victory. John hadn't stood a chance. The others with him expressed their grief as well - John was well-liked by everyone in the town. 

Karl kneeled down next to the boy, taking his pale hand in his own and giving it a gentle squeeze. 

"You did good, John." he whispered, and at the praise, John smiled weakly. 

"T-Thank you, Karl." John whispered back, letting out a bloody cough. He gave Karl's hand one last squeeze before he closed his eyes. 

He didn't open them again.

Karl cursed, wiping his tears away, looking at the time. It was 12:30 pm. He thought briefly about something he could do... He knew he shouldn't, but it wasn't fair that John had to die. 

He pulled a small remote out of his pocket, cradling the thing in his hands for a moment. He breathed in a deep sigh, turning the dial back and closing his eyes as he pressed the button. 

* * *

Karl glanced at his watch. 12:25 pm. He glanced at John sadly. There might as well have been a 5 minute timer above John's head that counted down to his demise. 

He had to change history. John couldn't die this time.

"I want to duel the bartender!" Mason declared, drunkenly pointing his finger at the meek boy standing beside Karl.

"Well, good! Because I was going to fight anyway!" John declared, pulling out his gun. He turned to Karl, offering the older male a smile. "Don't look so worried, Karl. I can do it!" he exclaimed.

"...Yeah." Karl laughed half-heartedly, his eyes full of worry. "I- John- Y- You can do it." he encouraged with a nod of his head, still trying to work out how to change the events that were going to happen next.

John beamed, though looked slightly put off by Karl's uncertainty. It caused quite the hit to his level of confidence. Did Karl not believe he could do it?

John turned away, heading up the steps to the platform. Karl watched him tremble. Dammit, the boy was even more terrified than last round. There was no way he'd win being as nervous as he was now.

"...Wait!" Karl interrupted, rushing forward and grabbing John's hand, pulling him back.

"...Karl? What's wrong?" John asked, though a slight tone of relief slipped into his voice.

"You... You can't duel him." Karl said after a minute of hesitation, unable to come up with a better excuse. "I'll duel him instead. I have to do this."

Karl took the crossbow from John, who looked confused. "Karl-? Why?"

"Because... I don't want to see you get hurt." Karl told him, a frown on his lips. His mind flashed back to the sight of the boy bleeding out on the wood. No, he couldn't let that happen.

"Okay, but only if you really want to do this. Good luck, Karl." John smiled softly, patting him on the shoulder and stepping off the deck, moving to stand next to the others.

They had sheriff count down their paces. Karl gripped the crossbow tight in his hands. For John.

When they hit ten, Karl turned around quickly, drawing the crossbow back. His first shot missed. He quickly got to work reloading, dodging Mason's next shot.

"Oh, look out, kitty!" he heard a voice call from somewhere behind him. Karl saw John running over to somewhere behind him, scooping up what looked like a cat in his arms. In his moment of distraction, Karl realized too late that Mason was firing at him. He dodged, preparing to fire again when he heard a cry of pain from behind him.

He turned around just in time to see John collapse to the floor. The arrow Karl had dodged had gone astray, hitting the teen and killing him instantly. 

The cat John had tried to save and move out of the lane of fire jump out of the boy's limp arms, running away, but not before looking back, straight at Karl. It's beady red eyes stared at him, tail flicking almost in mockery, before it turned again, the black cat running off. 

Karl growled at Mason, pulling out his remote again. Before the others could react, he had already turned the dial back and pressed the button.

* * *

Karl tried again and again to save John. It seemed like there was no way to change history. One way or another, death always caught up to John.

He tried teaching John better bow skills. Mason still fired first each time, hitting John before he could react.

He tried making other people duel Mason. Karl made sure that John stayed far away from the lane of fire. Even if he didn't die in the duel, something else would always kill the boy.

Examples included being trampled by horses, accidentally shot by one of their friends, tripping and falling from a height to his death, and so on. Hell, one cycle Crops had even gotten to him and eaten the boy. That round wasn't pleasant for any of them. Well, except maybe for Crops. 

Though he noticed one way or another - the black cat was always present in each cycle. The stupid thing was like a bad omen - leading John straight to his inevitable death. 

Karl couldn't remember how long he had been trying to save John. He had gone through so many cycles that it was affecting his memory. He couldn't count how many cycles he had been through at this point. 

Though now, as Karl stood in front of the platform listening to the Sheriff count their paces (Karl had asked him to do it this time around), Karl found himself edging closer to the platform, peering up at John with a mixture of fear and hope in his eyes. 

A story has to end at some point.

Karl knew this story had an ending, too.

**"8,"**

Karl glanced towards the black cat sitting on the stage, watching Karl with careful, mocking eyes. Karl grinned, flipping the cat the bird.

**"9,"**

The brunette watched the two men draw their crossbows back. Karl sucked in a deep, scared breath, throwing himself up onto the platform.

**"10 paces fire!"**

Karl crashed into John, pushing him aside and allowing him to just narrowly dodge the arrow headed for him. John fell to the floor in surprise, and Karl gave John a smile moments before the arrow collided with the side of Karl's head. He heard yells of surprise and fear - before he fell to the floor as well. Moments before his vision faded black, he looked towards where the cat would normally be. It was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief as he slipped unconscious, allowing death to take him, relieved that perhaps he finally found a way to break the cycle.

* * *

_In a small shack far, far away on a sunny August 15th morning, sat an ender-hybrid on his bed, looking out the window sadly._

_"Guess I failed again," he whispered to the black cat he cradled in his arms, turning his eyes to the side to look at a small remote with a dial and a button that sat on his bedside table. The cat looked up at him with its red eyes as Ranboo picked up the remote, cranking it all the way back before pressing the button._

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Some of you may realize this is based off the song "kagerou days". I decided to leave this disclaimer until the end as some who know the song may have realized where I was headed with the ending of this fic haha. I know what I intended by that ending but I would love to hear what others think I implied there (;


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